Rhett Brooks

Brand Manager, marketing consultant, sports junkie, amateur media critic, proud papa. Memorial HS '80, ORU '84.

[College Basketball Review @CbbReview]

Next up is a program that knows a thing or two about making a Cinderella run - Oral Roberts is No. 104!

No one can forget when Max Abmas and Kevin Obanor led the Golden Eagles to the Sweet 16 as a 15-seed in 2021.

But ORU has long been a winning program with 7 NCAA Tournaments in 51 seasons and an Elite 8 in just their third year, in 1974.

In fact, Oral Roberts burst onto the scene with six straight 20-win seasons. They’ve had 16 total, mostly thanks to a program legend coach in Scott Sutton, who had five of them in the 2000s.

But the biggest name from here? Bill Self! It is where he got his first head coaching gig!

[Rhett Brooks @RhettBrooks]

@CbbReview @CuseSportsTalk_ @NovaNationV @lmulionsMBB @CharlotteMBB @brhoops @Vol_Hoops @UNC_TarHeelFan @SetonHallMBB @DavidsonMBB @HofstraMBB As an ORU fan, wondering how on Earth the Golden Eagles (or ANY mid-major) can hope to add even a 1000-point scorer in this age of instant transfers for NIL windfalls, much less another 2000-point scorer...

[Enes Kanter FREEDOM @EnesFreedom]

To my Oklahoma family;
this piece comes straight from the heart.

I hope you’ll take a moment to read it and feel what I felt.
Thank you for allowing me to be a small part of it.

I came to @okcthunder to play basketball. I left carrying 168 lives.

When I was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder, I was thinking about basketball, nothing more.

I didn’t know that before I ever stepped on the court, this place would show me something that would stay with me far longer than any game.

Like any player, my mind was on the game. A new team, a new city, a new opportunity. I expected the usual routine when I landed in Oklahoma City. Physicals, practices, meetings, and a jersey waiting in a locker.

But before any of that, Sam Presti pulled me aside and told me there was somewhere we needed to go.

He didn’t explain much, and I didn’t think to ask. I was focused on the next step in my career.

What I didn’t understand was that, before I could represent the place I was about to play for, I needed to understand it.

So instead of heading to the facility, he took me to the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum.

I walked in without knowing what I was about to see, and within minutes, everything slowed down.

There are 168 chairs at the memorial, each one representing a life lost on April 19, 1995. They are arranged in quiet rows, each engraved with a name, each standing where a person once stood in that building. Then you notice something that is impossible to process the first time you see it. Some of the chairs are smaller.

They belong to children.

There is no speech that prepares you for that, no headline that captures it. You simply stand there, and the silence carries a kind of weight that is hard to describe but impossible to ignore.

As you walk through the memorial, you pass between two gates marked 9:01 and 9:03. At first, they seem like simple numbers, but then you understand what they hold. One marks the last minute before the attack. The other marks the first minute after. And in between those two gates is 9:02, the moment when everything changed.

That minute does not feel like history when you are standing there. It feels present.

The reflecting pool stretches across what used to be a city street, its surface calm and still. When you look into it, you do not just see water. You see yourself standing in a place where unimaginable loss occurred, and for a moment, everything else in your life becomes quieter.

Nearby stands the Survivor Tree, an American elm that was damaged in the blast but endured. It is not untouched. Its scars are part of what it represents. But it is still standing, and in that, it carries a kind of strength that does not need to be explained.

We did not speak much while we were inside. It did not feel like a place for conversation. Some places ask for words. This one asks for reflection.

When we stepped outside, Sam Presti looked me in the eye and said, “This is what this state has been through.”

Then he said something I will never forget.

“Every time you step on that court, you are not just playing in front of fans. You are playing for a state that carries this with it. Give them everything you have. They deserve that.”

In that moment, basketball felt different.

Not smaller, but clearer.

Because what I had just seen was not only about what was lost. It was about what remained. A state that had experienced unimaginable pain and still chose to come together, to rebuild, and to move forward without losing its humanity.

From that day on, every time I stepped on the court, I carried that with me.

On the nights when I was tired, when I was hurt, when I was dealing with challenges that felt heavy in the moment, I would think about those chairs, about that minute, about the people behind those names. And I was reminded that what I was going through did not compare to what this state had endured.
https://t.co/XfNLliRVaO

[Rhett Brooks @RhettBrooks]

@JackIllustrated Without reform, it’s time to realize what low-to-mid-major man’s basketball has become: juco ball, and a de facto farm system. Major schools reaping the benefit should be made to compensate the North Dakota’s of the world, who recognize & develop the talent the majors steal.

[Rhett Brooks @RhettBrooks]

@goalkeeper02134 @ValleyRunsDeep Context: both Max Abmas and Kevin Obanor GRADUATED after FOUR YEARS at ORU, but played their fifth "COVID years" for NIL payoffs at Texas Tech & Texas, respectively. ORU cratering the next season was due to a bad hire after Paul Mills left for Wichita State.

[The Field of 68 @TheFieldOf68]

Oral Roberts’ Ty Harper was UNREAL in the win over Denver:

47 points
12-24 FG
21-21 FT

He’s the first Division I player with 45+ points and 20-20 or better from the line in a game since 1966! 🔥

Stat via @JaredBerson

[Rhett Brooks @RhettBrooks]

@TheFieldOf68 @JaredBerson A great night, but far from a “program record”: Anthony Roberts scored 66 and 65 for ORU in games three weeks apart in 1977. The 65-point game is still an NIT record. Nevertheless, what a Senior Night for Ty Harper!

[Ryan Hammer🔨 @ryanhammer09]

47 on 21-21 FTs?????
First to do it since 1966??????

Insane stat line… on senior night!!! Shoutout Ty Harper @ORUMBB

[Rhett Brooks @RhettBrooks]

I can not rest until figuring out what @BerryTramel is doing to make that crazy scratching noise every day during the @sportsanimal Total Dominance Hour. 😬🤣

[Rhett Brooks @RhettBrooks]

@BarryLewisTW @TUMBasketball @ORUMBB Agreed, Barry! Not just closely contested, but also really well-played and entertaining. 175 total points in a 1-point decision at the buzzer? It doesn’t get much better than that in college basketball!
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[Rhett Brooks @RhettBrooks]

@Fieldof68Freak

[Rhett Brooks @RhettBrooks]

@ORUMBB

[Sam Lance @slancehoops]

Three-star class of 2026 guard Boden Williams chats family basketball ties, updates recruitment

@BodenWilliams
@MokanBasketball
@AdamZagoria
https://t.co/ip9jTqjcUr

[Rhett Brooks @RhettBrooks]

I've seen this mix tape a dozen or more times over the years, and it never ceases to amaze me...

[TodayInSports @TodayInSportsCo]

White Chocolate was drafted 27 years ago today.

[Rhett Brooks @RhettBrooks]

@orumbb @VerbalCommits @TheSummitLeague

[A&P Sports Agency @APSportsAgency]

BREAKING: Former Youngstown State guard Ty Harper has officially committed to ORU ✍️

[Rhett Brooks @RhettBrooks]

@TheSummitLeague

[ORU Baseball @ORUBaseball]

Game, set, match.

The Golden Eagles grab their second-ranked win of the season‼️

#ORUBase | #GoldenStandard

[Rhett Brooks @RhettBrooks]

@CoachPatt__ Thank you Sam for your steadfast service at ORU and always being a friend to me. Wishing you and your family nothing but blessings moving forward!

[Rhett Brooks @RhettBrooks]

@JimmieTramel @BerryTramel I do enjoy Cousin Berry's picks, but this reminds me of yet another entry on the "Things I Sure Do Miss" list - Jay Cronley and his brilliantly wicked alter-ego, "The Picker". He wasn't just hilarious; he REALLY knew his stuff! RIP

[Rhett Brooks @RhettBrooks]

Such a deal! Give me a call to lock in the best available seats! 918 495 7951 #PackTheMabee #ORUMBB #ORUWBB

[ORU Athletics @ORUAthletics]

𝙎𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙏𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙩 𝙁𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙝 𝙎𝙖𝙡𝙚! 🚨

Don't miss your chance to lock in this low low price for ORU Basketball Season Tickets! Offer ends soon. #ORUWBB | #ORUMBB

[Rhett Brooks @RhettBrooks]

@sportsanimal Time will tell: could be Vasilije Micic as a teenager, or could just be Mini Poku. Now, go get Myles Turner from Indiana.